Margrete Heiberg Bose

Margrete Heiberg Bose

Margrete Elisabeth Heiberg Bose(1865–1952) was anArgentinephysicist ofDanishorigin, the first woman to receive a chemistry degree in Denmark, possibly the first female physicist to work inLatin Americaand one of the first in the Americas.

History

Born inSorø,Denmark, she studied philosophy, mathematics and chemistry, graduating in 1901. She was the first female to be awarded anM.Sc.at theUniversity of Copenhagen,also. She continued her studies withWalther NernstinGöttingen,Germany. There she metEmil Bose,a German physicist with whom she married. They moved toGdańskwhere he was professor and editor of the journalPhysikalische Zeitschrift.

In the early 1900s there was an initiative to create a top level national university, with a physics institute as a cornerstone, in the city ofLa Plata, Argentina.Emil Bose was offered the directorship of the institute. He arrived with Margrete in 1909, who was offered a position as well. Together they taught the first experimental physics courses in the country. In 1910 there was a large scientific meeting inBuenos Airesto celebrate the Argentina's centennial with about 1000 participants and Margrete was the only female participant.

Shortly after the institute was officially opened, Emil unexpectedly died oftyphoid feverin 1911. Although Margrete was the senior physicist at the institution, the authorities decided not to appoint her director, deeming the position unsuitable for a woman. She returned to Germany in 1912 to Nernst's lab for a short stay and then again in 1915, where she had to stay until 1919 because ofWorld War I.Although on leave from theUniversity of La Plata,her position there was canceled due to financial problems. After the war she returned to La Plata and had to file a grievance to get her position back, which she eventually did. She continued her research and mentored many students. She became an Argentine citizen in 1937, and retired in 1941.

References

• Von Reichenbach; M. C. (April 2012)."Margrete Heiberg Bose, de Dinamarca a La Plata".Boletín Informativo de la AFA(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon March 5, 2016.RetrievedAugust 31,2012.
• Dollerup, Cay (February 4, 2012)."Margrete Bose – første danske kvindelige professor".KVINFOs Webmagasin(in Danish). Archived fromthe originalon February 12, 2013.RetrievedAugust 31,2012.
• Hunter, Emily; Pyerson, Lewis (2005)."Mermaid: Margrete Heiberg de Bose in Europe and Argentina"(PDF).Saber y Tiempo(20): 157–169.RetrievedAugust 31,2012.
• Bibiloni, Anibal G (September 2000). "Emil Hermann Bose y Margrete Elisabet Heiberg-Bose, pioneros de la investigaciòn en fìsica en la Argentina". Encuentro en Historia de la Ciencia.